the devil made me

…

…is open and ambiguous to interpretation. For myself, I believe it is about Hawthorne himself who is growing up in a time when many Puritan children are leaving the Puritan faith. There are many times in the story when he is questioning his faith by listing the examples of religious infractions by his peers. For all this, it is a wonder Hawthorn was not eaten by the despair and guilt he lets Goodman Brown feel.